Parents sue Scottsdale over tot’s death at fire station

The parents of a toddler killed when he became pinned in a door at a Scottsdale fire station have filed a wrongfuldeath lawsuit against the city.

The suit does not seek a specific damage amount in the death of 16month-old Joey Reiss. However, a previous notice of claim filed against the city of Scottsdale had sought $9 million.

The suit says the boy’s mother, Courtney Reiss, witnessed her son being crushed by an automatically closing bay door at the fire station. The boy died from head and skull injuries two days later at a hospital.

Joey was among a group of seven children who were touring the fire station on Feb. 3 along with parents.

After six months of grief and counseling, according to their lawsuit, Courtney Reiss and her husband, Dan Reiss, filed a full-fledged lawsuit this week against Scottsdale, the door manufacturers and the installers, alleging negligence and a lack of safety protocols.

The lawsuit claims the Fire Department could have put signs, sounds, or a barrier near the bay door to prevent an accident from happening, and warned the parents of the dangers of the door.

The suit says Courtney Reiss was watching Joey from “just a few feet away” when the bay doors “quickly and violently slammed shut on Joey.”

Police did not find any criminal intent in the death of the boy in their investigation and concluded the door did not malfunction.

The city of Scottsdale issued a statement in response to the suit:

“While we remain sympathetic to the Reiss family’s loss, the city disputes many of the factual and legal claims in the lawsuit and will defend the matter accordingly,” said Kelly Corsette, a city spokesman.

Also named in the suit are WLC Architects, which designed the station, and Door Engineering and Manufacturing, which made the door. Neither responded to requests for comment. The contractor that built the station also is named as a defendant.